House of Goodness moves to latest K8

Distributors

Customer: House of Goodness Group

What we did: Upgraded K8

Challenge

A Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) customer since 1989, House of Goodness Group has progressively moved its systems forward with new software releases and additional applications. Having evaluated its requirements in conjunction with the K8 development roadmap, House of Goodness made the decision to upgrade to the latest release – K8 Babbage.

An effective platform

A diverse group, with businesses ranging from health food and leisure, builders’ merchants and heating supplies, House of Goodness harnesses K8’s multi-company flexibility with centralised financial control. Structured to support the group’s Christian ethos, K8 runs on a single platform with minor business configuration differences to ensure consistency and conformity.

Forward thinking

The group recognised the opportunities and benefits of making the move to K8 Babbage. Not least of which the system’s incremental structure, specifically designed to simplify the process of implementing future releases. Assessing the group’s strategic requirements, the upgrade was also positive from an investment perspective Nick Porter, IT Manager, said: “The browser client in particular; being able to access the system from mobile devices will save time and effort for our warehouse staff. The latest Web Builder integration – enhanced in this release, is set to further our online trading channel initiatives. In terms of specifics, improvements in direct debit collection processes will save us around 15 hours per month and foreign exchange payments will be easier to manage. Overall, K8 Babbage is also stricter in terms of financial disciplines.”

Planning and preparation

From the outset, the project required that key staff had to balance day-to-day responsibilities alongside the upgrade preparations. With the need to minimise the impact for its staff, it is advantageous that K8 Babbage requires minimal ‘up front’ user training. In the build-up stage, test and training systems were set up on the group’s existing server platform; confidence and familiarity with the software being essential to the success of the upgrade. Preparations were completed with a final test conversion followed by the go live itself. “Taking a measured approach, we were able to complete tasks such as user acceptance testing in parallel with operational duties. Guided and supported by KCS, the whole project; which involved all group businesses, went pretty smoothly”, said Nick.

Integration is key

Finance Director, Hilary Oldham said: “For our diverse group, systems integration is fundamental and that’s where K8 scores highest. The system works well across multiple sites and being able to have role-based user workplaces accommodates our range of businesses very well. For basic practicalities, such as document scanning, K8 makes it easy for anyone to view delivery notes and invoices. This is enormously beneficial, saving us time and therefore cost.” The company said that its main objective is to improve efficiency – being able to access key information using K8 is a major contributor for processes to run more smoothly. “We also want to encourage more TBS customers to use our online facilities, said Nick.

As a business for which flexibility and tight control are essential, House of Goodness is focused on getting the most from K8. The system also helps the group to deliver a quality customer service and adhere to its Christian ethos.

House of Goodness profile

The group’s businesses comprise Good Timber, Good Welding and Fabrications, Goodness Foods, HDA Architecture, New Creation Farm, Skaino Services, TBS Building Supplies and White & Bishop. All employees are members of the Jesus Fellowship – the group’s origins were to provide employment for community members, extending to support its property and other assets.

Gains and benefits

Flexible and adaptable for diverse group

Integrated trading and financial controls

Tailored user work place facility

Fast query resolution

True thin client deployment

Results

Successful upgrade to latest K8

Multiple incremental enhancements

Minimal user training requirements

Browser client accessibility

Direct debit collection savings

Easier foreign exchange payments

A platform for further upgrades

To find out more about the solutions that we offer, please contact us today.

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The browser client in particular; being able to access the system from mobile devices will save time and effort for our warehouse staff. The latest Web Builder integration – enhanced in this release, is set to further our online trading channel initiatives. In terms of specifics, improvements in direct debit collection processes will save us around 15 hours per month and foreign exchange payments will be easier to manage. Overall, K8 Babbage is also stricter in terms of financial disciplines.

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Kerridge Commercial Systems

Providing specialist software, services and support to deliver fully integrated business management systems to trade, wholesale, manufacturing, field service and distribution customers, large and small.